Car-seat.



No. 675,366. Patented May 28, l90l. E. N. GILFILLAN.

CAR SEAT.

(Application filed May 2, 1898.)

(No Model.)

I N I 1 E-WME] v f v UNITED STATES :P'ATENT OFFICE.

ESSINGTON N. GILFILLAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

' GARfSEAT.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 675,866,- dated May 28,1901.

Application filed May 2, 1898. Serial No. 679,459- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ESSINGTON N. GILFIL- LAN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois,.have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOar-Seats, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

My invention relates to that class of seats employed in cars and forother purposes which have a shiftable back and seat-cushion whereby thefacing direction of the seat and the inclination of the cushion may bechanged at will.

The primary object of my invention is to provide an improved, simple,and durable means whereby the seat-back may be readily shifted forwardand back to change the facing direction and, if desired, alsosimultaneously alter the inclination of the seat-cushion to suit eitherposition without the employment of objectionable projecting arms orother exposed devices having a shearing or pinching action liable tocause injury to the fingers of children or to others while occupying oroperating the seat.

Another important object of my invention is to make the construction ofsuch a charactor that the parts may be composed of ordinary bar-steel orsteel forgings, thus avoiding breakage and saving expense, while be inglight, durable, and very compact.

Another object of my invention is to cause the bodily throw of the backby a comparatively shortarm pivoted far up under the seat-cushion and toprovide for the requisite tilt or inclination of the back by causing itsupper edge to automatically recede toward the seat in a directionopposite to that in which such arm moves when the back is being shifted.

Another object of my invention is to antomatically tilt the foot-rest oneither side of the seat, so that the rest in front may always be highenough to admit a valise or other object under the seat.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an improved seat ofthis character which shall be of such a construction that theseat-cushions during storage or shipment may be stacked in a compactpile or form notwithstanding the necessity for the employment of theusual rockers thereunder while in position for use.

With these ends in view my invention consists in certain features ofnovelty in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts bywhich the said objects and certain other objects hereinafter appearingare attained, all as fully described, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure] is a vertical transverse sectional view ofmy improved car-seat, taken on the line 1 1, Fig. 2, the seat-cushionand the rockers which support it being shown in dotted lines. 2 is aplan sectional view of one end of the seat, the back and cushion beingremoved. Fig. 3 is a detail view, on a small scale, of the cushion andone of its rockers.

In illustrating my invention I have shown one end of the seat only; butit will nevertheless be understood that the mechanism is the same atboth ends, and therefore the description of one end will suffice for thetwo.

. 1 represents one of the end frames of the seat, supported uponsuitable legs or standards 2 and having longitudinal sills 3, whichconnect the end frames of the seat together and support the seat-cushion4 in a wellknown or suitable manner. The seat-cushion 4, which is shownin dotted lines in Fig. 1 and in full lines in Fig. 3, is madedetachable from and rests upon the usual rockers 5, one of which isarranged at or near each end of the cushion and extends across thebeveled sills 3 in the usual manner; but instead of securing the cushion4: permanently to the rockers 5 I provide such rockers in their upperedges with a recess or notch 6, while the bottom of the seat-cushion isprovided with one or more longitudinal ribs or blocks 7, which fit intothe recesses 6 of the rockers 5,

and thus securely hold the seat-cushion from sliding out of place.

In order that the rockers 5, which rest loosely upon the sills 3, may becompelled to retain their relative positions, I connect them together bya cross-bar 8. With this construction it will be seen that when it isdesired to take the cushions ofi and stack them up for shipment orstorage or other purposes they may be readily lifted off the seat andstacked up in a compact and neat pile without having the rockers,asheretofore, defeat this desirable end.

Pivoted at 9 to the inner side of each of the end frames 1 is an uprightarm 10, whose extreme upper end is pivoted at 11 to adownwardly-extending rigid arm 12, secured in any suitable manner to thelower edge of each end of the back 13. The arms 10 are preferablycomposed of a more or less flat bar of steel or other suitable materialand formed integrally with a longitudinal portion or bar 14, whichextends from end to end of the seat and engages in the usual yokes ornotches 15, formed in the lower edges of the rockers 5, so that as thearms 10 are oscillated back and forth the rockers 5 will partake of suchmovement, but in the opposite direction, for imparting the desiredshifting and inclination to the seat-cushion. The arms 10 are short ascompared with the long radius of the are described by the upper edge ofthe seat-back, the pivots 9 of such arms being located far up under theseat-cushion, so that the lower ends of the arms, as well as the bar 14,will be substantially excluded from View and prevented from causinginjury; but in order that the upper edge of the seat-back may swing onan arc of greater radius than the distance between such upper edge andthe pivot 9 I resort to the mechanism which I will now describe andwhich not only eifects this desired end by causing the upper edge of theback to recede toward the seat in the direction opposite to thedirection in which its lower edge moves, but is compact, simple, anddurable. To effect this movement, I provide the lower end of the arm 12with sliding connection with another arm 15, which is pivoted to the arm10, and also has its lower end restricted against movement independentof such arm 10. This sliding connection between the upper end of the arm15 and the lower end of the arm 12 may be best effected by means of alongitudinal slot 16, formed in the arm 12, and a sliding stud or pin17, projecting from the side of the arm 15, the pivotal connectionbetween the arms 10 and 15 being effected by an ordinary pivot 18, whilethe lower end of the arm 15 is restricted against movement independentof the arm 10 by a stud or pin 19; but in order that the arm 15 mayoscillate upon its pivot 18 as the arm 10 swings from side to side, andthus cause the upper edge of the back to reecde toward the seat in adirection opposite to the direction in which the arm 10 moves, the lowerend of the arm 15 must be allowed longitudinal movement with referenceto the pivot 19, and I therefore provide such lower end with a slot 20,through which the pivot 19 passes. The pivot 19 is mounted upon a bridgeor bracket 21, which extends across the lower ends of the arms 1O 15, asclearly shown in Fig. 2, thus allowing the arms to OS cillate and topass each other. \Vith this construction it will be seen that when theseatback is in a vertical or central position all of the pivots 11, 17,18, 19, and 9 are in direct line; but when the back is shifted onto theright side, for instance, the pivots 9, 19, and 18 form a triangle onone side of the longitude of the arm 10, while the pivots 18, 17, and 11form a similar triangle on the opposite side. As the back shifts from acentral position to one extremity of its movement it is carried bodilyin that direction by the arm 10; but inasmuch as the lower end of thearm 15 cannot follow its upper end with the arm 10 the pivot 18 acts asa fulcrum and forces the pivot 17 in the direction of movement of thearm 10, but at a greater speed, so that by the time the back has reachedthe limit of its shifting stroke the upper edge of the back will havereceded toward the seat in a direction opposite to the movement of thearm 10 a suflicient distance to prevent its upper edge from incliningtoo far for the comfort of the sitter.

All of these parts, it will be seen, may be constructed of ordinarybar-steel or steel forgings.

The back is limited in its shifting movement in either direction by astud or stop 1 on the end frame.

Pivoted on a central shaft 22, at each end thereof, is a foot-rest arm23, upon each end of which is supported one end of one of the foot-rests21 25, and secured to the bar 14 is an arm 26, whose ends are so turneddownwardly that when the seat is shifted in one direction the end of thebar 26 on that side will impinge the arm 23 and cause the footrest atthe front of the seat to rise up close under the cushion and the otherfoot-rest to descend in a convenient position'for the use of thepassenger in the rear seat. When the seat-back is shifted in theopposite direction, the reverse movement of the foot-rests takes place.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, isp 1. A seat having in combinationashiftable back having the slotted arm 12, the pivoted arm 10, the lever15 pivoted to the arm 10, the stud 17 secured to lever 15 and engagingin the slot of arm 12, the bridge 21 having stud or fulcrum 19 providedwith sliding connection with the lever 15 and stops arranged to engagewith the arms 10 for limiting its movement, substantially as set forth.

2. A seat having in combination the arms 10 and horizontal bar 14 formedintegrally, the end frames of the seat to which said arms 10 arepivoted, the shiftable back having 0perativc connection with said arms10, a shiftable seat-cushion and operative connection between saidcushion and the bar 14, substantially as set forth.

3. A ear-seathaving in combination a shiftatively connecting said arm 26Withsaid shiftable back, a double foot-rest projecting from able back,substantially as set forth.

both sides of the seat and havin arms 23 a centrally-located pivot-shaftfor 531a foot-rest ESSINGTON GILFILLAN' 5 and a rocking arm 26 arrangedto impinge Witnesses:

one of said arms 23 alternately on opposite EDNA B. JOHNSON, sides ofsaid pivot-shaft and means for oper- F. A. HOPKINS.

